Yes, I was one of those people pre-baby who swore I would NOT co-sleep when I had a baby. I wanted baby to sleep in the crib, I wanted baby to be "independent", I didn't want to sacrifice sleeping with husband... but then, baby came along and..
For the first month and a half, I stuck to my guns.. During the first month at my mom's while doing the Chinese "sitting" month (坐月子), Maddie slept in the Arm's Reach Mini co-sleeper bassinet. It was nice because she was next to the bed but had her own space and as a newborn, she was so tiny I would've been too scared to have her in bed with me. But even the first few weeks I spent nights just holding her because she was nursing NON-STOP! gotta love cluster feeding.. NOT! x_x
When we went home, I left the co-sleeper bassinet at my mom's since we had a crib for her at home. The first two weeks home (week 5 & 6) she slept in her crib and I slept in the daybed we have in the nursery. As much as I wanted to sleep with husband, we have our other two babies aka our dogs, Ronald & Batman, who sleep with us in our bed. Husband also wanted me to stay with baby so he stayed in our room with the puppies while I stayed in the nursery.
After many nights of having to wake up several times to get her out of the crib to nurse, I was so tired and sleep-deprived. When I got home from my weekend trip without baby to San Francisco, I missed her so much I put her next to me in the daybed for the night..
And you know what, I loved it so much I've been co-sleeping since!! baby sleeps well, I sleep well.. nursing in the middle of the night isn't a chore because I just sit up in bed and nurse. I also get up to nurse her before she starts fully crying which I think has helped her sleep longer. Shortly after co-sleeping, baby started sleeping 5-7 hour stretches which most would consider as "sleeping through the night". She's usually in bed by 10pm and will get up around 4-5am to nurse and then back to bed until 7-8am.
People warn me it's going to be a bad habit to break and the pre-baby me is probably shaking her head but I don't care what anyone says! :) I'm no longer feeling sleep-deprived, I love having her next to me and husband loves that I'm next to her. On the weekends, we switch off and he'll sleep next to her in the nursery while I sleep in our room.
When the time comes for her to sleep on her own, it'll probably be harder for me than her, because I've left her sleeping for long stretches alone and she seems fine. I know one day baby girl is going to sleep on her own, but tonight, she sleeps with her mama :)
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